Navia, Asturias: municipality guide

Navia is a coastal municipality in western Asturias: 8,031 inhabitants on 63.12 km². Its capital is the town of Navia, set at the mouth of the river that gives it its name. A fishing port with a long tradition and a land of emigrants who returned from the Americas, it hosts the Descenso a Nado de la ría, the open-water swimming race held since 1958.

Things to see in Navia

The jewel of the municipality is the fishing village of Puerto de Vega, a picture-postcard harbour with its fish market (rula), the church of Santa Marina and the Juan Pérez Villamil Ethnographic Museum. From the chapel of La Atalaya and the seafront viewpoints the Cantabrian Sea spreads out below, and in one of its houses Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, the Enlightenment writer from Gijón, died in 1811.

View of the fishing harbour of Puerto de Vega, in the municipality of Navia. — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / David Perez (CC BY 3.0)

At its mouth the river Navia forms a mighty estuary, a stage for water sports: surfing and canoeing are common sights. The municipality has 14 kilometres of coastline with beaches such as Frexulfe, El Moro, Coedo and Fabal, while to the east the river Barayo forms the natural boundary with the municipality of Valdés.

Aerial view of the mouth of the Navia estuary. — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Amasuela (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In the capital town, the church of Nuestra Señora de la Barca is the shrine of the patron saint, venerated since the 13th century and carried each August in a river procession along the estuary. Remains of the medieval town wall survive between Calle de las Armas and Calle de San Francisco: the town charter granted by Alfonso X in 1270 authorised the Thursday market, which is still held. The poet Ramón de Campoamor was also born in Navia.

Camino de Santiago: the Camino del Norte (Northern Way), an official Jacobean route declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, crosses the municipality: the stage between Luarca and La Caridad passes through the town of Navia and over the estuary bridge on the N-634.

How to get there

The A-8 (Cantabrian motorway) and the N-634 (between kilometre points 516 and 524) run through the municipality; the AS-12 (Corredor del Navia) connects it with the interior and the AS-25 with Villayón. There is a station on the Ferrol–Gijón line with Ferrol–Oviedo regional trains, plus halts at Piñera and Villapedre, and bus services (Luarca Bus, ALSA) to Luarca, Vegadeo, Boal, Grandas de Salime, Oviedo, Gijón, Madrid, Irún and La Coruña. The town lies 105 km from Oviedo.

Map of the municipality of Navia: the capital, in gold. Data © OpenStreetMap (ODbL).

Festivals and gastronomy

The main festivals are those of Nuestra Señora de la Barca, from 14 to 17 August, with the traditional river procession. In the first half of August comes the Descenso a Nado de la Ría de Navia, an international open-water race contested since 1958, with the floral offering to the Virgen de la Barca; the Cider Festival takes place on the same dates. In September, Puerto de Vega celebrates Las Telayas (7–10, with the Telayona on the 8th), and through the year each village honours its patron: San Pedro in Andés (29 June), Santiago in Villapedre (July), San Lorenzo in Villaoril (9–10 August) and San Miguel in Anleo (29 September). On the table: fish and seafood from the Puerto de Vega fish market, cider and unique desserts such as the venera or requesón con miel.